Re: Cushite

Cushitic languages form a branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. They are spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, and Djibouti — countries located in the Horn of Africa.

Somali is the only Cushitic language that enjoys an official status. It is one of the national languages of Somalia, along with Arabic and English.

Oromo is a trade language used in Ethiopia for official government purposes, commerce, as well as by the public media and the educational system up to the eighth grade. It is also used in a variety of literature.

Because West Cushitic languages have few vocabulary items in common with the other Cushitic tongues, some scholars consider them to form a separate branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, called Omotic. The table below lists the most populous Omotic (West Cushitic Languages).